Our peace
is established in what He did, and "the counsel of peace" is
"between them both." Jesus has accomplished that which God purposed
towards us. In order to this, it was needful that He should "bear our
sins," and this He did as the "sin-offering." He was made
"sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him." In the sacrifices, when the offerer laid his hand upon the
head of the victim, there was in that act the complete identification of himself
with the victim. Now there are two great characters in the sacrifice of Christ:
the one, that of the burnt-offering; the other, that of the sin-offering. We
lay our hands on Him as the "burnt-offering," thus identifying
ourselves with Him. "Accepted in the beloved," all His perfectness,
all His "sweet savour" unto God is ours. But then as to the
"sin-offering," it is just the reverse with the hand laid upon the
victim; it became identified with my sins, charged with my guilt.[i]